Clarisse had been thinking alone in her suite all day. Joseph thought it would be a good idea to check up on her and see how she was feeling.
"Clarisse, my darling, I just got off the phone with the press. They said they were willing to hold a private conference if you will oblige. It's an opportunity to tell them that the rumours are all untrue. You could clear your name and the people of Genovia would respect you again!"
She shook her head, "No Joseph, I do not wish to lie to my country. I'll think of some other way to fix up this mess. I've been thinking about it all day and I have decided that if this hasn't died down within a week, I will make a speech to the whole of Genovia."
"A wise decision? What will you be saying in this speech?"
"I haven't thought about it yet, but I have a week to think about it. Call the press and tell them what they can do with their offer, but say nothing else, understood?"
He nodded his head and walked out of the room.
Joseph walked casually down the corridor to the kitchen while Mia hung off him trying to find out who the mystery man was, "Come on, Joey, tell me who he was. Was he…"
"Stop this now! I will not tell you, I am sworn to secrecy."
"Come on, Grandpa, you can tell me. I won't tell anybody!"
"Don't you have a country to run?"
She stopped and stormed off to her office while Joseph went to make the phone call.
"Darling, I've called the press and cancelled the meeting. They were quite disappointed."
"Thankyou Joseph. You didn't say anything else, did you?"
"Of course not. My darling Clarisse, I've been thinking and I have decided that if you wish for me to come forward about this issue and tell everyone that I was the one who impregnated you, I would be happy to do so."
She cupped his cheek, "Joseph, no."
"I just don't like seeing you like this. I just thought if I came forward, the pressure would be taken off you."
"Oh, it was sweet of you to offer, but no, I'm keeping you out of all of this. It wasn't your fault. Entirely."
He gently kissed her hand and walked out of the room. He was somewhat relieved that she didn't want to accept his offer because he wasn't very good at public speaking and wouldn't know how to handle all the attention. Clarisse on the other hand had dealt with the public for most of her life and had learned to deal with it. Joseph decided that he would leave it up to her to decide what to do and support her all the way.